Social–ecological experiments to foster agroecological transition

Abstract

1.A paradigm shift is needed to make agriculture sustainable, and various substitutes for intensive agriculture have been proposed. However, moving from theory to practice, in the context of climate change, natural resource depletion and worldwide economic and social disorder requires a novel approach that goes beyond the confines of 'normal' scientific practice, to (a) consider ecological and socioeconomic processes within the agricultural socio-ecosystem and (b) involving stakeholders in the research process.2. We propose an innovative experimental approach for identifying management practices that optimize multiple objectives, deliver a portfolio of ecosystem services and satisfy the social demands of key stakeholders while improving the socio-economic welfare of farmers. Social-ecological experiments are undertaken in real-field conditions, involving stakeholders explicitly, all along the experimental pathway, to help untangle the drivers of social-ecological dynamics under various practices of land management and farming. As an example, we describe a socialecological experiment to reduce the intensity of weed control.3. These 'social-ecological experiments' go further, to participatory action research by not only involving stakeholders in the research process but also by manipulating simultaneously socioeconomic and ecological processes under real-field conditions to foster agroecological transition. Such experiments are distinct from adaptive management, participatory agricultural research and scenario-planning approaches as they highlight the interactions between ecological and social processes, manipulate the processes shaping the system and show causal links between patterns and processes. 4. Social-ecological experiments offer great opportunities for increasing stakeholders' acceptance of environmental policies or sustainable agriculture programmes implemented through adaptive management. These experiments may help to identify management practices that deliver a portfolio of ecosystem services and satisfy key stakeholders. K E Y W O R D S

An update on the conservation status of the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax: global and local population estimates, trends, and threats

“…Therefore, the western range would require a conservation strategy in which extensively managed agricultural landscapes with a large enough proportion (>15%) of good quality grasslands are spared from more intensively managed ones. This would require a stronger stakeholder commitment with the conservation of farmland biodiversity (Gaba and Bretagnolle 2020), as well more conservation-focused and easier to apply agri-environmental schemes (i.e. those encompassed in EU's CAP; Dı ´az et al 2021).…”

A Participatory Agrobiodiversity Conservation Approach in the Oases: Community Actions for the Promotion of Sustainable Development in Fragile Areas

“…This has become evident for those species that can have a relevant economic interest. In complex systems such as oases, perennial and annual crops are at serious risk due to over-exploitation of the nonrenewable groundwater reserve, inefficient irrigation techniques, continuous increase of irrigated areas [65] and the loss of the traditional practice of cultivation at three layers [66]. Sustainable development of oases must be conceived from ecological (conservation and economical use of resources), social (acceptability and responsibility), economic (profitable activities) and cultural (human values and qualities of resilience, solidarity, generosity and patience) perspectives.…”

Traversing the food‐biodiversity nexus towards coexistence by manipulating social–ecological system parameters

“…Therefore, to determine which social and ecological factors interact in the development and maintenance of a conflict we must first understand how the underlying biodiversity impact emerges. Innovative and participatory approaches will be necessary to properly understand biodiversity impacts-such "social-ecological experiments" (Gaba & Bretagnolle, 2020) should focus on manipulating the social and ecological processes that shape the system and allow situations to arise that give way to opportunities for impacts to occur. Once the formation of biodiversity impacts is sufficiently understood and the factors that directly explain the impact are identified, we may determine which social-ecological factors can be subjected to management strategies so as to minimize or eliminate the impact and quell the conflict.…”